Now Bell and Bootsy have flight cages.
This is Bell and she has a missing toe and a slight beak problem. She is very sweet and loves to snuggle in the rocking chair.
This is our Bootsy.
She is a lovebird with two clubbed feet. She was just a baby when we got her. This photo was taken several years ago. We were feeding her formula at this time.
Bootsy grew up and at first we thought she was a he but then one morning there was an egg.
Her pretty little egg.
Bootsy has had several cages since she cannot perch but she thinks she is the queen bee and can do anything! Birds can live a long time and if they must live in a cage we wanted to give them both the biggest cage we could afford and have room for in our small house.
This is Bootsy's new flight cage. I had to make her bridges so she could go from the bottom of the cage back up to the top.
I cut dowels and drilled holes and made bridges but then she still could not grip to walk on the bridges so I wove fabric through the dowels as I normally do for her perches. I can remove them and wash them or replace it with new cloth. It takes a bit of imagination to do these things for her.
It is a long way down for a little bird and we are hoping that she will learn that it is easier to fly from the top to the bottom. She cannot land well because of her legs but she manages.
This is Bootsy now.
The other problem that Bootsy has is eating or drinking out of a normal feeding cup or water dish. She cannot perch on the edge or stand tall enough to get up and over so we drop her dishes off the side of her flat perches.
Bootsy uses the side of the cage and the cloth to help her climb the bridges.
She says ok I made it this far!
She is on her way up to the top flat perch.
She is learning to flap more to help her on the steep part.
Almost there!
Back on top.
I keep water up at the top and another water on the next flat perch down and then her food cup on the third flat perch. I do this to encourage her to exercise more. When she is in egg laying mode she tears up newspaper from the bottom of the cage so when her next egg is due she should get a lot of exercise going from top to bottom because it is a long way down there.
This makes me dizzy
Bell is hanging out watching and waiting for her time with Mommy. I will go now so I can sit a spell and rock this baby and give her a head rub.
